Avast! U3 Edition: annoying message balloon

[rwaters]

Which version will support an INI file option to disable the balloon message?

The next one as Vlk said 

I wish I could use the U3 version of avast 

Hi Tech,

I think the orignal poster had version 1.0.78, so with 1.0.81 installed I thought I already had "the next version" and that there might already be an INI option available. Maybe it was a dumb question, though...

[rwaters]

Some of 'U' might find this interesting, from the Windows Secrets newsletter

Beware some new U3 Flash drives

You may have read the recent amusing story at DarkReading.com about a penetration tester who compromised a credit union. He simply left USB Flash drives in the parking lot and other places where employees could find them.

Naturally, the USB drives had a Trojan on them. The employees took the little drives back to their desks, plugged them in, and the Trojan silently installed itself and e-mailed sensitive company information.

Of course, I smugly think to myself that autoplay is disabled by default on Flash drives. These idiots must have browsed through the USB drives and voluntarily run the Trojans.

So a couple of days ago at work, my new Sandisk Cruzer Micro 4GB arrived. While I'm standing there holding the box, my co-workers and I start discussing the story I just referenced

Yes, I walk back to my desk, plug in the drive, and up pops LaunchPad. My new USB drive wants me to install Skype and a number of other applications. All right, this isn't the first time that my USB drives have come with "free" software preloaded, but how did it autolaunch?

I kill the program, and delete the files from the Flash drive. I thought. I insert the USB drive again and the same thing happens. I try harder to delete the files — no dice. I reformat the drive and it all happens again.

It turns out that this drive includes "U3 technology." The short version of the story is that it's not just a dumb Flash drive. It's a "smart" Flash drive that can take a portion of its storage and emulate a CD-ROM drive. In Windows, autoplay is enabled by default for CD-ROM drives. And of course, you can't delete files from a "CD-ROM."

Now I get it. Fortunately, there's an uninstall utility from U3.com that will delete U3 technology and make a USB drive into a plain Flash drive.

I was a bit confused about how these U3 drives work in the beginning, too, and I'm not sure I'm going to keep the LaunchPad around. I hesitated to uninstall it until I had made up my mind because the U3 web site said that the uninstallation of LaunchPad was irreversible. However, SanDisk does allow you to reinstall it later if you change your mind.

[DavidR]

The reason for my posting was not for people to uninstall launchpad, but to be aware of it and to beware of plugging in U3 flash drives you either find or are given or come from unknown sources.

Exactly how you recognise a U3 flash drive without plugging it in I don't know, however it is possible to temporarily stop the autorun function in windows that may give the opportunity to scan the flash drive ?

[chocholo]

...
Exactly how you recognise a U3 flash drive without plugging it in I don't know, however it is possible to temporarily stop the autorun function in windows that may give the opportunity to scan the flash drive ?

Since Windows 95 it is possible to temporarily prevent autorun by pressing shift key.

[belmeade]

Vlk, if ver 1.0.81 contains the update, which setting in my ini file do I change?

Thanks,
Belmeade

[Vlk]

1.0.81 does NOT contain this. The next version will (I think it will be released in 1-2 weeks).

The corresponding option is

ShowBalloon=0

in the [Settings] section (just add the line above to the [Settings] section; as soon as avast updates to the next version, it will become effective).


Thanks
Vlk

[belmeade]

Thanks, Vlk. I appreciate the help.

Belmeade